EE, the new name for Everything Everywhere, the parent company of Orange and T-Mobile, has announced the United Kingdom’s first 4G LTE network at a press event in London this morning. The new service will be up and running in 16 cities by Christmas, with London, Birmingham, Cardiff, Bristol, Edinburgh, Belfast, Leeds, Sheffield, Manchester, Liverpool, Glasgow, Newcastle, Southampton, Hull, Nottingham, and Derby all on the list.

Like 4G networks in the United States, EE’s new service will bring super-fast Internet access to a range of mobile devices across the U.K., and it hopes to reach 98% of the population by 2014. What’s more, this will be the U.K.’s only 4G network for some months, with Ofcom forcing the remaining carriers to wait until early next year for the 4G spectrum auction.

In addition to its 4G network, EE will also be introducing a new fiber optic broadband service for homes and businesses.

Those who are signed up to Orange or T-Mobile will notice EE’s new rebranding over the coming months:

“Over the coming months – customers using Orange and T-Mobile will begin to see their phone signal indicator change to EE, whether they are on 3G or 2G, showing that they are on the UK’s biggest and best network. This is at no extra cost and there are no changes to their existing price plans.”

EE insists, however, that both of these carriers will remain separate companies, and that they will continue to operate under their existing names, offering consumers a different range of handsets and tariffs.